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Planning Realities of Public Space: At Ground Level with Artistic Practice

The theoretical starting point for this article is Gilles Deleuze’s
concept of “symptomatology”, which is based on the assumption that the
artistic position can be interpreted as one of a cultural doctor.

Deleuze’s observation relates to a specific potential of artistic practice to manifest
and reflect prevailing power-relations together with the positions and roles
it involves. Bringing these notions into the context of urban practice, the
potential of artistic work in public space is discussed in relation to urban
planning strategies. Three case studies are at the center of this analysis:
“meinstein”, “Under Scan” and “transition – berlin junction”, which
all work on the ground level with the pavement of streets in different
European cities. While these art projects are reflecting on complex and
contested layers of multifold social, economic and political processes,
interests as well as practices, they are also raising questions about the
potential of art as active part of the planning and composition of urban
space.